I agree with the OP, Freedom does leave the Premium player feeling shortchanged. My experience is similar to the OP: I played for 3 years (~i6-i15) CoV first and later CoH. I have 28 toons on the Freedom server, 14 of them are level 50s, and the rest range from 17-45 (I only give this info so that people can get a frame of reference, it's not a brag session). After hearing about some of the changes to CoX, namely the free-to-play, I decided to re-install, give it a try and see what all the changes are about without having to worry about throwing $15 away on possible disappointment...after all, the game is over 8 years old now. So, I logged in, unlocked my 50s, grabbed my favourite toon and went to find a team. The first level 50 team I joined I was kicked out of because I couldn't hit anything, my defences kept toggling off because I had no energy and I kept dying all the time. I couldn't figure out what the hell happened to my toon. I looked in my enhancements and all of my hard earned IO sets were greyed out. So, I ask around and find out that if you aren't a VIP then you have to buy an Invention Licence to be able to use IOs or better. Or I guess the other possibility is to slot over them with SOs, but it would be a complete waste of 3 years to re-slot just so that I can test-play with the other level 50s. And yes I have full (or near full) IO sets for both builds on all of my 50s and most of my other toons. I worked hard to get those IOs and I would rather be willing to just forget about the game entirely than go through the busy work of downgrading them, especially when it's a test run to see what the game has become.
Now, to all you who say things like "You feel shortchanged for paying nothing?", you seem to have ignored the fact that that I've payed $540+ (plus taxes, CC fees, and other one-off purchases like respecs and server transfers) over those three years, so it's not like I have payed nothing and am demanding everything. I really only have issue with my IOs being locked, and maybe a bit that my 3 year veteran "status" just isn't enough (I had to go to 4 or 5 years?). If NCSoft wants to instill loyalty (re: Veteran Rewards) and bring back past players, then they should at least let the premium players have their hard earned IOs back. It just doesn't seem right to hamstring returning players by locking all of their IOs and forcing them to pay just to be able to play at the same level with other 50s. It seems a little Zynga-esk. I mean, doesn't anyone else see the irony in that? "Freedom" is free-to-play, but as a "premium player" in order to actually have a positive gaming experience I have to.....pay.....?
I would be more inclined to re-subscribe if I was able to get back into the game a bit and wanted more content/costumes/etc. You know, get a taste for it again and want more. But, right out of the gate my toons feel useless, and that negative experience pretty much guarantees that I will not be paying any money at all. In fact, I will likely uninstall and never return. For those who say "Good, we don't need you." well, you actually do need people like me because server population is dropping and eventually it will die out as more and more players leave for newer games. Why do you think that NCSoft changed their business model, because it's the cool thing to do and all the other gaming companies are doing it? The more returning players that are turned off, the more they will tell their friends to not bother and to take their business elsewhere. With the advent of social media sites, like Facebook, it has become very easy to get "word of mouth" around. There are many other free-to-play games out there that offer a full experience without having to pay anything. It's once the player is hooked is when they are usually willing to pay for the extras. It's not a matter of "I like it", "I don't like it" or "NCSoft isn't going to change it just because you <enter perceived entitlement issue here>", it's more that this issue around locked IOs that seems to be turning returning players away from the game more than anything else.
